I realized the other day that my Kwikset kitchen door handle is suddenly loose. It used to spring back into position when pushed down or raised up, but now I need to manually bring it back to center so the door stays closed.

I thought it might just be that the screws holding the handle together were loose, but this didn't help at all when I tightened them.

I took the door handle apart. I've never seen the inside of a door handle, but it seems to me the spring might be broken. There's an extension of the spring (you'll see it in the closeup photo) on one side, but I am guessing there is supposed to be one on the other side, too.

Can someone please confirm or deny if I am right? Can I purchase a new spring, if so, or do I have to buy an entirely new handle?

Erik, this handle looks pretty old. The house looks nice, so if this were my place, I'd bring the handle to the local store and find a matching replacement. It won't cost more than a few dollars and will look much better.

When holding the round portion that presses against the door in your hand and working the lever, the lever should always return to center. If there is no binding or bent parts, then it's likely the spring. As a comparison you can open up a handle that works perfectly.

To my knowledge there are no repair parts available for any handset, replacement is the easiest and cheapest. If this handset requires a key, may retailers who sell handsets also rekey them for a small fee, saving you the time and hassles of finding a locksmith or using multiple keys.